Misery Loves Company

by Ryan Erik

Twenty years after Ranma Saotome vanished into the night after his bachelor party, Nerima has moved on without him. The common struggles that his friends endured brought them together as family, as the chaos Ranma embodied no longer caused endless conflict. Now, after every last person gave up hope of his return, a familiar looking redhaired girl steps off a plane into their lives.

12. Part Three: Sayonara (5 of 8)

Misery Loves Company
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
by Ryan Erik

Part Three: Sayonara
(5 of 8)

After his brief conflict with Rintaro, Kenichi had retreated into his Aunt Kasumi's perfect kitchen, where she somehow found time to scrub every surface, and still work full time as a nurse for the local hospital. The kitchen was much like his own at home, except it did not have a separate door leading into it, but rather had swinging doors that an American Western might have for entering a saloon. The place was at least twice as large with a few modern appliances that the Tendou house lacked, like a dishwasher and dish dispenser that automatically sorted and stored dishes.

Standing in front of the refrigerator, Kenichi held his hand outstretched with an empty glass in it, in an attempt to acquire a glass of water. A solitary ice cube fell into the glass, but none followed the first. He heard the rumbling of the refrigerator trying to pour ice from the hole above his glass, but his glass remained nearly empty. He closed his eyes, shook his head and felt the day had been a whole slew of torments before he could get to his bed and put it all behind him.

After opening the freezer, Kenichi located the ice cube chute, heavily clogged to the point that none could get through. He then closed the door, and pushed his right index finger up, where he located the clog. Three pieces had become fused together, stopping the flow altogether. With a quick jab, he broke the ice with the tip of his finger, and then quickly replaced his glass under the chute, overfilling it.

Removing his glass to stop the flow of ice cubes, he watched in dread as the ice kept falling, and falling and falling until he put his glass in the way to stop it.

"Stupid piece of garbage," he complained, kicking the base of the refrigerator door.

"That's not going to stop it from filling the kitchen and your empty head with ice cubes."

Kenichi cocked his head to the side to see his cousin staring at him with a grin. He glared at her with all the spite he could muster, but that only made her laugh out loud.

"My hopeless, hopeless cousin, I hope your future wife can make up for your utter lack of common sense." Reiko walked up to him, pushed him aside and lifted the release button out from its position, stuck against the glass. She then pushed another button and filled his glass with water. She put the glass to her lips and took a long draft before offering it to him.

"Thanks, but I'm not thirsty anymore," he quietly said, not able to think of anything witty with which to reply. Why did Mayako have to get that gene as well? He could have said something about her fainting spell, but that would have been more cruelty than comedy.

"Oh, you can use the towel over there to clean this up now." With that said, she left as quietly as she had entered, sipping his glass of water on the way out.

It took him a few minutes to gather all of the ice that had spilled onto the floor, and then empty it into the sink. As he finished and started wiping the water off the kitchen tiles, he heard someone enter the kitchen. He looked up and saw his aunt standing above him. She crouched down beside him.

"The ice machine?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. His eyes still glanced about the floor, scanning for any shine that might be a pool of water he'd missed.

"I've been meaning to have the fixed, but something always comes up." Kasumi stood and looked down at him with a smile. "Are you hungry at all? I could make something up."

His mouth salivated a bit hearing this, but she had just come home from work and he did not want to impose on her. "I'm okay, but thank you, Aunt Kasumi." His stomach grumbled at his mouth's betrayal.

"I'm going to go check up on Rei-chan, then."

As she turned to leave, he told her, "She's up, but she's probably in her room anyway." Kasumi nodded and left him alone in the kitchen.

The thought of getting another glass of water sounded bad, so he took a second glass down from the cupboard, which he had left open in the first place, and filled his glass with tap water. As he put the glass to his lips, he heard the door to the guest room where Mayako had been resting open. A few moments later, Rintaro stepped in.

He coolly regarded Kenichi in silence from the entrance of the kitchen, but quickly broke his stare and passed Kenichi to acquire a glass from the cupboard as well. As he went to fill the glass with ice, Kenichi considered telling him that the button for the ice often stuck, but decided Rintaro deserved to clean up the mess of ice cubes that would result from his ignorance.

Unfortunately for Kenichi's mood, Rintaro did not have that problem and easily filled the glass with ice and then filtered water. He turned and did not drink from the glass, but regarded Kenichi again with his hard blue eyes.

"Enjoy your walk?" the boy asked of him. Kenichi could not tell if that was supposed to be an insult or some sort of valid question. Rintaro did not betray anything from his face or body. He simply stood there calmly.

"It was okay," Kenichi replied, taking a sip of the tap water. He grimaced, realizing they did not have a filter on their tap. The water tasted like it had been used for boiling something greasy and then simply returned to the faucet.

"They probably have soda pop, you know," Rintaro said. Apparently he had noticed the face Kenichi had made. Kenichi only afforded the boy a shrug in return. He would not engage in any conversation with him unless he had to. "Probably some beer, too."

"I don't drink," Kenichi said, glaring at Rintaro for the implication.

"Maybe you should look into it," Rintaro said, betraying the beginnings of a smile. "I know I would if I had your brain. Not much to lose there."

"Yeah, take up the bottle and end up like you," Kenichi retorted, not entirely jesting. "That would make us twins. We could roam the countryside challenging cows. What a manga that would make."

"Imaginative aren't you? You gonna draw that manga with your subpar artistic ability?"

"It's a good thing I'm a better artist than you are martial artist, or I might be stuck training babies how to slap crayons against paper, like you'll be teaching them to crawl the rest of your life."

Rintaro chuckled and shrugged. "Hey, someone's got to teach you."

Kenichi nearly spat out his wretched tap water but forced himself to swallow it before joining Rintaro in a laugh.

"Jeez, do I have to teach you how to swallow, too? I mean, your shirt is soaked already. Back to the training cups for you."

"Okay, okay," Kenichi said with a wave of his hand. "Just don't go around being a complete baka just because you're strong."

Rintaro nodded and then turned, leaving Kenichi alone in the kitchen again. He quickly dumped the remainder of his glass of water into the sink, and then put the empty container into the dishwasher. He stood around for a moment, contemplating going back to see what his sister and Rintaro were up to, but nixed that idea after another second. Mayako would just send him out again.

Exiting through the swinging doors, he walked into the adjacent dining room, which immediately led to the front door and the stairs. He stopped and looked up the stairs, his mind suddenly back on the redhead that had walked him here. It had not felt right, asking if he could go with her to China, but he'd needed to get it off his chest. From her tone, he honestly did not believe she would invite him, but he'd had to ask for his own piece of mind.

She must have come here with a closed heart, and nothing he could have done would have opened it for anyone. The look on her face when he had asked if she would let him go with her had made him feel guilty. He was not quite sure how she felt about his request, or him for that matter, but it did not match his enamor for her.

Kenichi shook his head and decided to wait in the family room for Kimiko to finish her shower.

---

The tall man in the shabby, beige overcoat examined a ripped yellow piece of paper, clutched tightly in his hand. Nodoka Saotome watched him closely as he stood outside the gate to her family's home. Methodically chopping the carrots for the salad that she was making to take to the Tendou house later, she divided her attention between food preparation and watching the stranger.

After another moment, the man reached for the latch to the gate and opened it, creating a loud squeak. He entered her property, closing the gate after him. She made a mental note to oil the gate as he walked through her modest garden in the patio. She examined him more closely as he neared her. His eyes hid in the shadows of a wide-brimmed, American-style hat. He might have been an American businessman or a detective, but Nodoka did not like the look of him. His shadowed face concerned her only slightly less than the mud-caked, rough brown boots that he wore.

Yelping in surprise, Nodoka looked down and realized she had lightly sliced the nail of her thumb, gouging it but not cutting any skin. Looking through the window again, she realized the man would be at her door in a few seconds. Removing her apron, Nodoka hung it on a peg next to her refrigerator as the man solidly knocked on the door.

She walked through the right portal from the kitchen into the living room, and then walked directly to her left where the front door stood. She checked her hair with her right hand as she reached for the knob with her left.

Opening the door as far as the chain would allow, Nodoka revealed the stranger, but still could not see the man's face in the shade of her covered patio. He seemed even taller than he had when she saw him through the window.

"Good afternoon," the man said with a slight bow of his head.

"Yes, it is," she replied sternly with a stiff incline of her head.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said, though she doubted he meant it. He had an impetuousness to his personality that she mistrusted. She could see through the overcoat to his rough interior.

"No, what can I do for you, sir?" she asked as demurely as she could, resisting the urge to snap and tell him to leave.

"Would I be correct in assuming that you are Nodoka Saotome, wife of Genma?"

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as he said this, but she nodded in spite of herself.

"Would your husband be home at the moment?" the man asked a moment later, his head cocking to the side.

"No," she curtly told him, taking the door in her hands, ready to close it at a momentary misstep from the stranger. "He isn't. If you leave your number with me though, I can relay it to him when he comes home."

He slowly shook his head. "Would you happen to know where he is, Saotome-san?" The unsavory tone of his question made her shiver from behind the door. Nodoka Saotome knew a predator when she saw one, and knew that this man had no good intentions for her husband.

"I'm afraid I do not, sir," she replied as calmly as she could. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meal to prepare." She pushed the door closed, but something obstructed it and it unexpectedly inched inward toward her.

"If you will forgive me, I do need to locate him," the man said so calmly that it chilled Nodoka.

Firmly pushing the door with both of her hands, Nodoka felt her heart pounding quickly in her chest. "I don't know where he is!"

"I merely wish to question him about another person, Saotome-san," he factually stated, blocking the door with the toe of his foot. "Do not hide his whereabouts from me. He will not be harmed."

Nodoka did not believe that for a moment, abandoning the door for the katana at the mantle of the living room. Adrenaline already coursed through her veins as she nearly tripped over the coffee table that lay in the way of her path. Quickly taking the family blade down from its place at the mantle, Nodoka unsheathed it in one quick motion and discarded the scabbard onto the floor.

The man had not tried to force his way into her house yet, but she had little doubt he would try if she did not answer him.

"Leave these premises immediately," she shouted at him. "I'm calling the police now." Although she did not make good on her threat, she gauged his reaction.

"That won't be necessary," he replied solemnly. The four inch shadow he cast from the little light outside disappeared from the ground inside her house. She quickly rushed to the front door and closed it, locking it. After that, she hurried to the kitchen window to make sure he had departed.

However, the gate still stood closed with no sign of the man, and yet she had not heard the gate squeak. Panic that had already touched her, began to well up in her stomach, turning it over as she scanned for him. She decided to call the police after all, just in case he decided to try in break in.

Unfortunately, the only two phones in the house were in the parlor, near the back of the house and in Rintaro's room, which usually stood locked. The parlor was adjacent to the living room. Hurrying through the living room, she still held the katana tightly in her hands.

Making her way past the couch in the living room and into the parlor, she stopped in front of the cordless phone recharger, but did not see the phone in sight. Thinking hard, she tried to remember where she had used it last. As the memory of where she left the receiver came back to her, the shattering of a window somewhere in the kitchen sent her in a dead run for the stairs.

A slight ringing developed in her ears as she charged up the single flight of stairs and into the hall that led to her room. The door was open and she rushed to the side of her bed and quickly lifted the receiver. Pressing the "talk" button, she pressed the phone to her ear and waited for a dial tone, but heard nothing. Glancing at the digital display of the phone, it read "Batteries low."

Her mouth fell slightly ajar as she heard heavy boots thudding up the stairs.

Pushing out of her room, still clutching her katana, she quickly cut at the padlock on Rintaro's door. The clink of metal on metal hurt her ears that already strained to hear her attacker's approach. A second slash brought the lock from the latch on the door. It fell to the floor as she caught a glimpse of the stranger approaching her from the other end of the hall.

Throwing Rintaro's door open, she rushed in, and then closed the door behind her, locking it. Unfortunately, it was only one of the flimsy doorknob locks that could be easily picked open with any small, thin object. His room was incredibly neat, and she quickly found the phone, grabbing it and glancing at the receiver for the memory button that would dial the local police line.

Unfortunately, Rintaro did not have a single item listed under his memory keys. She tried the first one anyway, but nothing happened. He must not have entered any numbers on his memory key. In fact, it occurred to her the moment before the man kicked down the door to the room, that she had never noticed any outgoing calls from Rintaro's room on the phone bill since they had installed it two years ago in an attempt to get him to be more social.

She dialed 119, despite its complete unreliability, and listened for the sound of heavy boots on the wood of the hallway, but heard nothing. The phone began to ring just as the sound of the man's heavy boot crashing against the door caused her to scream. The door looked severely dented as she watched in terror. It only took him one more solid kick to cause the flimsy door to crash open.

Not one to back down, Nodoka dropped the phone and readied her katana.

"I warn you, I am learned in Kendo and I'm not afraid to use my family's blade." Nodoka's threat seemed hollow to even her own ears, as she had hardly practiced in the last fifteen or twenty years, ever since she'd had her second child.

The man rushed her in spite of her outstretched blade. She raised the blade above her head and then brought it down in a forward slash, but the man was too quick, knocking the blade to the side with his arm, and then he drew in far too close for her to strike a second time. She attempted to jump over her son's bed in order to get away from the man, but he caught her leg. She came down face first into Rintaro's pillow.

"Where's Genma?!" the man demanded, raising his voice for the first time.

Nodoka barely managed to scream before he lifted her by the back of her shoulders and span her around.

"I will not ask a second time!" He struck her across the face, knocking her across the room. She tumbled across the bed as the strength of his slap sent her sprawling. Her head span and her eye stung terribly.

---

After a few more slaps, the stubborn woman divulged her husband's whereabouts to the man in the overcoat. He smirked at her face as she stared at him, still dazed by the attack. Genma Saotome would soon be in his hands, and then he would wring his neck, right after acquiring the information he needed to complete his task. No one would stand in the way of his honor.

His new destination worked out well, killing two birds with one stone.

---

Wispy white clouds twirled ever so slowly in the beautiful blue sky above the head of Ryouga. He lazily stared into the heavens above him, enjoying the rare cool breeze that caressed his skin. Stripped to the waist, he enjoyed his afternoon more with every breath he took, lying back on the reclining chair he had found in the back of the house near the dojo. He felt his body warming from flesh to bone. The weather trends of late, from north to south of the island, had kept him dodging rainstorms and bundled up to avoid freezing.

Locked out of his own home, Ryouga no longer felt so as annoyed as he had when he'd arrived to an empty house. Akane, her father and the kids could be anywhere, doing anything, and he was not right to feel any animosity for them. He had been gone for weeks, or even a month this time, but he was not quite sure, which was longer than usual. On such a beautiful day, his mood improved substantially.

After what seemed like hours, someone had returned home. The opening gate alerted him and he sat up, quickly putting on the uniform he'd borrowed from his son's locker. By the position of the sun, he guessed it would probably be three or four in the afternoon. After a moment, Soun and Genma walked through the gate together, seemingly arguing about something. They looked as they usually did, older than when he had first met them, but still ageless in their retirement, and wearing their familiar heavily-patched gis that Kasumi and Nodoka must have spent many a fine day repairing.

Their words tapered off when they saw Ryouga waiting for them. Ryouga tried to gauge their moods by their faces, but that was only possible with Genma, whose face lit up like a street light in welcome. Soun seemed a bit pensive in his expression, perhaps angry at Ryouga's longer-than-average disappearance. The old man had never come down on him about it before, but he obviously would sympathize more with Akane than his directionally-challenged son-in-law.

Ryouga approached the two men and stopped a few feet from them. Genma closed the space and reached his hand forward to shake Ryouga's firmly.

"It's good to see your back, Ryouga-kun," he said jovially; his mood must have been good previous to Ryouga's arrival, for Genma never greeted him this warmly, shaking his hand with a merry vigor.

"I'm happy to be back," Ryouga replied with a smile. He turned to Soun who extended his hand a moment later. "Good day, father Soun." He bowed his head respectfully to his father-in-law and smiled.

"It's been a while, Ryouga-kun," Soun said a bit warmer, smiling after he shook his hand. "I'm glad you have returned. Much has transpired since you left."

The three men walked to across the brick walkway to the front door, where Soun reached into his pocket.

"I'm afraid I'm locked out," Ryouga stated as Genma and Soun stopped at the front door. "I must not have brought my keys with me when I left."

Soun and Genma chuckled at his remark as Soun bent over and pulled a key out from a flowerpot near the door of the house.

Ryouga passively watched the old men open the door and enter. For a brief moment, he felt compelled to turn around and lose himself. A shiver ran down his spine as he walked through the doorway after them. He rarely ignored his gut, but time away from his family was becoming unbearable.

His stomach started to growl as he crossed the threshold. He had traveled many days without anything but his own meagerly prepared meals. Although he knew she was no cook, Akane could make some passable basic meals. They tended to become leftovers quickly, even when she made them properly.

To his surprise, the fridge was empty.

"Oh, I forgot to say," Soun said to him as he stared at the empty refrigerator. "Akane, Shintaro and Eiji went shopping. They'll be back later."

From the other room, Genma added, joining them in the kitchen, "If you know what's good for you, boy, you'll be full by the time she gets back!"

Soun coughed in an unconvincing rebuttal.

The thought of Akane cooking for him sent another chill down his spine. Maybe his gut could sense death in his next meal. "Where did you two eat then?"

"With my wife," Genma said with a smile on his face. "She made far too much, I'm afraid to say."

Ryouga tried to picture Genma's house in his head, but his mind came up blank. He would just get lost trying to get there.

"I'll take you there, Ryouga-kun," Genma offered, quite out of character for him, Ryouga thought, until the old man added, "I just found another spot to fill."

"If you need help getting back, I'll send one of the kids to get you." Soun warmly patted Ryouga's shoulder. "Good night to you, Ryouga-kun and Saotome-kun. It is time for me to practice before dinner." He left the kitchen.

To Ryouga's relief, he would not be alone for this trip.

---

The walk home took so much longer than Kenichi was used to. His aunt's house was only a two train stations away, which took almost no time on bike, but took the better part of an hour on foot. With one bike's tires slashed, the four decided to walk both of the bikes home together. Since his cousin offered to take the borrowed bike back to its owner at the fruit stand where he used to work the following day, they had two bikes to four people and only Reiko owned a bike at her house. Kenichi would have almost assuredly been able to have Kimiko as a passenger. The idea of being so close to her again made his heart race.

Now, the four of them walked separate, except for Rintaro, who was hunched to support Mayako's good shoulder as they walked. She probably did not need it, Kenichi reasoned, but something was happening between them, and he did not want to interfere, lest he evoke his sister's anger.

Both he and Kimiko walked bikes as they had earlier in the day. He felt eager to get her alone again. Everything came back to her. His entire focus felt lost around her. He used to be the most grounded person in the group. Now he felt like he could fly, if she asked.

Kimiko had Mayako's bike on her left arm, placing it in between him and her. She had only shot one glance at him the entire time, and now she seemed to be avoiding both eye contact and a conversation. Her clean red hair, still damp from her shower, freely fanned out on her shoulders, leaving damp marks on her sky blue tank top. He watched the red locks bounce with each step.

"Watch it," Kimiko told him, looking at him quickly.

Surprised by her sudden words, he looked back at her. She merely looked ahead of him. He had almost walked into a lamp post in his obliviousness to everything but her.

"Thanks," he sheepishly replied. As they continued their journey home, he still kept his eyes on her. "So that's what it takes to get you to talk tonight."

"Huh?" she said, furrowing her brows, but keeping her eyes forward "What do you mean?"

"It took me almost walking into a pole to get you to talk. You've been avoiding me ever since we left."

She finally turned to look at him, her piercing blue eyes red with fatigue. They stared at each other for what seemed an uncomfortably long time before she moved to put the bike to her right side. She turned back to him without the bike in the way.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

Kenichi shrugged, not holding back his smile. "I don't know. I just want to walk with you."

She blinked slowly staring at him as if he spoke in tongues. "Isn't that what we're doing?" She seemed more determined to keep her eyes on his, making him even feel a little uncomfortable, and he was the one who enjoyed staring contests.

"Walking beside me doesn't mean you're walking with me," he said quietly. She still looked confused. "Two people can walk next to each other for twenty years and never walk with each other. They're merely sharing space. Walking with each other means acknowledging my existence and sharing words or a feeling."

Kimiko finally broke her stare, her baby blue eyes glancing up and down his body. "I acknowledge you, Kenichi. That mean we're walking with each other?"

His smile broadening, Kenichi nodded.

"Good, because it's the least you deserve," she said mysteriously. "I didn't mean to ignore you. I was just thinking. You know, deep stuff." She smiled back. "I have a lot to decide before I go back to the hotel tonight."

Kenichi's heart picked up with his next thought. "What if you stayed tonight? Don't go to that lonely hotel. Kick back with us. We can tell stories or watch a movie, or something."

With a shrug of her shoulders, Kimiko looked forward with unease in her face. "I don't want to burden your family anymore." He would have immediately answered her and said she was not in any way a burden, but the way she had said it carried more weight than he could interpret.

"Why do you think you're a burden?"

She walked a bit closer, nearly touching him with her free left arm as they traveled in step. "Trouble follows me wherever I go."

Kenichi followed her thought to its logical conclusion. "You can't blame yourself for Mayako's injury. That was something brewing before you even came here." He put his free right hand on her shoulder. The contact made his heart jump again. The butterflies in his stomach wreaked havoc on his mouth. He wanted to say more, but felt unnerved by his own move.

"You might not think it, but this type of thing happens a lot around me."

The streetlights suddenly turned on as they walked. He watched her eyes glance up at them, fall to meet his and then look down at his hand on her arm.

"What?" She looked a little bewildered, meeting his stare again.

"You're beautiful," Kenichi risked, unable to look away. She almost stumbled, but holding her, he was easily able to correct her imbalance. "Are you okay?"

"Why do you think I'm beautiful?" she asked, ignoring his question. Their conversation began to mimic the earlier one they'd had with him explaining his feelings for her.

"I kind of answered that already," he said, trying to wiggle his way out of the Catch-22 question. "Let me reverse this one on you. What do you think about me? Your real, honest, true-to-heart truth."

Kimiko's eyes widened when he asked her. "You answered already?" She turned to stare at her hand that held the bike. "Well, you could always just tell me again."

"Scared to answer my question?"

"No!" She looked at him, her cheeks red. "I'm not scared. I just don't know how to answer that."

"Let me help. You start like this: Kenichi, I think you're blah, blah, blah, and I like blah, blah, blah about you, and don't like blah, blah, blah about you."

She narrowed her eyes for a moment, but then giggled at him. "Kenichi no baka. You know that's not what I meant."

Looking out ahead of him, Kenichi watched the front wheel of his own bike flop around. "Well, okay, how about this. What do you look for in someone you would date?"

"Why do you want to know something stupid like that?" Kimiko demanded, the tone in her voice betraying her agitation. When Kenichi looked at her, he saw the tension in her eyes. Quieter this time, Kimiko spoke again. "What do you want from me, Kenichi Tendou? I'm just a homeless girl with no future." She turned to face him again with those eyes.

Kenichi fell back, more than a little surprised at her anger. Her eyes softened when she saw his reaction.

"I'm sorry," she quietly apologized, bowing her head slightly.

"No, I'm sorry," he replied quickly. He wanted to touch her arm again, but felt it might be inappropriate. "I was only asking in play. I'm sorry if I offended you."

She shook her head. "You didn't. I don't know why I reacted like I did. I'm just feeling a little off today."

The four of them arrived at the train station. The commuter train to Nerima had already arrived as they walked up the stairs to the station. They hurried and piled into the last compartment. Rintaro and Mayako took the corner seat at the head of the train, while Kimiko and Kenichi gave them some space and sat across from them and a few chairs down. The empty train gave them plenty of privacy.

With the bikes hanging on the rack above them, the two finally found the place for the rest of their conversation. He watched her as she slid to the end of the row nearest to the window. He noticed that her navy blue Capri pants matched the color of the cushioned chair.

Before Kenichi began to speak, Kimiko quickly cut him off.

"Before you say anything, I want to tell you something."

He nodded.

"I don't date at all," she began, scooting in so close that her left thigh ran into his right. The contact made his heart beat just a bit faster. "I don't even consider people for dating. I never really did. The first person I ever loved sort of fell on me. I didn't even want to go out with her for the longest time."

Her? Kenichi thought, his mind bewildered. As she continued her story, he could not help but be confused at the details. She spoke as if she might not ever get a chance.

"Before I knew it, we were going to be married by the end of high school. I didn't think it would ever happen like that, but it did." She put her hand on his shoulder fondly, her smile marred only by the pain in her eyes. "One day I was just traveling around Japan and China, and the next I was engaged. I focused on my training so hard that I almost took her for granted. Now, I see you look confused, but please just bear with me. I didn't tell you this on a whim."

Kenichi tried to digest what she had said, but from the feminine pronoun of her significant other to the part about being engaged, he really did not know what to think.

"What I'm trying to say is that my past is really screwed up. More screwed up than you can possibly believe. And I've lied about my past and who I am since we first met. But before I say any more, I want you to swear on your honor, your family and your very life that you won't repeat to anyone what I'm about to tell you."

---

"I swear by my honor, my family and my life that I won't ever speak a word of what you'll tell me." The serious tone of Kenichi's voice spoke volumes about his nature. Kimiko knew she could trust him with her secret, but she wondered how much he could accept. She smiled in spite of herself.

"Well, since we don't have much time until the train arrives, I'll give you the brief version. It all starts in this place you might have heard of: Jusenkyo." Kenichi's eyes widened when she said the name. She continued, "I thought you'd know it, with your family's history."

He cocked his head and stared at her. "Everyone knows about Jusenkyo."

It was Kimiko's turn to be surprised. "Everyone?"

"Yeah," Kenichi simply said. "Well, at least, everyone in Nerima. All kinds of people from there got cursed, including the principal of my high school, my aunt Shampoo and a few others."

With the steam of her story all released, Kimiko felt a little disappointed, although that made it easier for him to at least believe her story.

"Hey, how do you know about it?" Kenichi asked, cutting right back into her story. She had to tell him about her past now. She could not help entertaining the thought of bringing such a great person with her to China, even though she knew it would be out of the question.

"That's what I was going to tell you," Kimiko began when Kenichi put his hand to his mouth.

"Did your brother get cursed? I heard he goes to China a lot."

Kimiko shook her head at his question. "Yes, and I did, too."

Hearing that, Kenichi furrowed his brows and looked at her skeptically.

"I'm serious here," she told him. "I'm not trying to tell you any more lies. I swear."

"Okay, I'm sorry," Kenichi said waving his hand in deferment. "Go on."

"Alright," she began again, watching his mouth to make sure he did not have anything left to say. "My pop and I went there some years back. He took me out of school a few months early so we could travel around the country. It wasn't long before some guy convinced my dad over drinks to go with him to China, to make out on some investment. The guy was full of B.S., but my pop didn't know that. He told me it was some training trip that we were going on.

"Anyway, when we got to China, we went to this place where they had guides to all these legendary training grounds. Jusenkyo wasn't close, so we took a bus part of the way and walked the rest. When we got there, we didn't listen to the guide who was yelling at us half in Chinese and half in Japanese. Well, we both fell in good."

Kenichi looked at her in wonder. He then put his hand to his chin and squinted his eyes in thought. "Wait, but we fell in the koi pond together on Sunday. You didn't change."

She nodded in response. "I know, but that's the kicker. The curse stuck, so hot water doesn't work anymore."

With a half-smile, Kenichi stared at her. "You mean you beat it?"

Shaking her head, Kimiko could only say, "It beat me."

Kenichi frowned, looking her up and down. He thought about it for a few moments. She could tell he was trying hard by the strained look on his face.

"I'll make this easy for you," she told him solemnly. "The way you see me now—it's my cursed form."

His jaw gaped open.

"Yeah," she agreed, turning her head to look towards the front of the train car. "I looked a lot different than I do now."

"What, did you get shorter?" Kenichi asked, poking her arm in fun. "I don't see what else could have changed."

"Well, yes, that among other things," Kimiko quietly replied.

"Be blunt with me," Kenichi said to her back. "I don't know what you're getting at. If this is your cursed form, you got off easy. Everyone else turns into an animal. My aunt Shampoo turns into a small, purple cat."

She turned back to face the youth. He no longer looked at all like Akane to her eyes. Although they shared the same eyes and chin, his cheeks looked a bit wider, and his hairline was a little higher. He just feels right, she thought as he kept his eyes focused on her.

Kimiko took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Pressure felt like it was building in her chest. She felt like crying, but held it back. She really liked Kenichi, and telling him the truth felt like exposing every lie she had ever told to the person she cared about the most.

"I need you to promise one more thing," Kimiko whispered. She kept her eyes closed. She took in another breath. "Promise you won't get mad when I tell you?"

"I can't promise that," he said with a wry grin. "Short of you being an animal and falling into a person pool, I can't think of anything that would throw me for a loop."

"I was a boy," she said a moment after he spoke, unable to look at the reaction on his face. She could not bear it. The admission felt wrong now, as if what she had just told him right now was the real lie. She looked back at the things that should have felt wrong to her that she was comfortable with now, such as using the girls' locker room, the girls' bathroom, not to mentioning kissing Kenichi. If she had been in his place at the same age, she would have been sickened to her stomach. But now, just the thought of it sent a tingle down her spine.

It was in realizations such as that which made her uneasy with her decision to tell him. She was jeopardizing only her momentary friendship with the son of her ex-fiancé.

"I take it back," he whispered.

The unease in her chest became unbearable and a tear slipped past her defenses and out of nowhere. She gasped suddenly, unaware she had been holding her breath. She squinted her eyes open to view his face. He harshly stared at the seats across from them.

"So it changed your gender?" he asked, gritting his teeth. He seemed unable to look at her. Kimiko could only imagine the pain this was causing him, but she had to tell him. He was the closest thing she had to a real friend here.

"Yes," she whispered back, trying to hold back more tears. She thought telling him would be liberating, but all it felt was as though she had betrayed him.

"Wow, I didn't see that one coming," he said quietly, putting his hands on his knees.

When she saw his reaction, she had little doubt that she just lost a friend. He pressed his fingertips to his forehead, his mouth open and his eyes fixated on his knees. Another tear dripped down her cheek, but she barely noticed it until it reached her lips. She wiped it away and turned to look out the window of the train. She recognized their location. They were close to his home.

"Do you understand what I told you?" she asked quietly, observing him closely. He still did not look at her. She wondered if he ever would again.

"Yes," he replied, his voice strained. "I understand the words, but what am I supposed to say to them? It's not something you hear every day, you know?"

He looked up and out through the window as the train's brakes engaged, slowly bringing the car to a halt. She could feel the tension in the air as he obviously avoided looking at her. As he stood up, she copied him, trying to calm herself down. Looking away from everyone as the other two joined them, Kimiko occupied herself with retrieving the bike she carried.

The four youths piled out of the train as the doors slid open. Mayako walked out on her own with Rintaro right behind her. They did not seem to notice anything, too preoccupied with each other. Kenichi followed them, his step slower than usual. He glanced back at Kimiko as she followed him out, but turned to face forward quickly.

The walk home seemed as though it was going to be one of the longest of her life.

---

A resounding knock on the door startled Soun awake. He had fallen asleep on the back porch, cooling off after performing a long series of katas. He no longer had the stamina of his middle age. Shaking the drowsiness from his head, he stood, entered through the back and walked into the living room when he heard the door open.

"Ryouga-kun?" he asked aloud, suddenly curious as to why he would knock. He glanced down at his wristwatch and noticed only an hour had passed since Ryouga had left.

Halfway through the dining room, he heard a reply.

"Wrong, old man," a thick, masculine voice informed him.

In another second, he stood face to face with a tall man in a long trench coat and hat. Beneath the disguise, Soun recognized an old foe.

"I told you not to come back!" Soun shouted at him, furious that the man before him had returned. "We do not have the answers you seek!"

"You have this one, old fool," he said, cracking his knuckles. "You will tell me where your son-in-law is."

Suddenly, Soun felt his heartbeat quicken as perspiration ran down his cheeks and forehead. The last time this man had come, Soun had much of his family to fight with him, should this villain have attacked. Unfortunately, no one was home to protect him this time. He would have to fight or surrender.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Soun figured Genma and Ryouga could handle themselves against this fiend, so he conceded. "They retired to Genma Saotome's house."

Removing his hat, the man revealed his scarred features. It had been at least five years since he had come here looking for an answer to the question Soun and his family had sought themselves. The villain seemed to consider his answer for a moment before tossing his hat aside.

"You know what I can do to you," the tall, dark man simply stated, closing the distance between him and Soun. "There's no reason to hide his location. I will eventually find him."

Soun's eyes opened wide. He had not considered the man would not believe his answer. He had nothing else to tell him.

"I do not lie," Soun told the man, his voice starting to break. "I swear, he left here not an hour ago."

The angry features of the man changed into a smirk. Apparently, that answer pleased him very much.

"Good, that will save me the trouble of hunting him down. Unless of course, you lied to me. Then I'll have to turn this beating into murder."

Soun's blood turned cold the instant before the man pounced. Relying on his instincts, he managed to avoid the villain's charge, which crashed through the area he had stood a split second after he'd left it. Retreating to the deck in the back of the house, Soun pushed his body to run, but the exhaustion of his walk across town, the meal and his workout made it more difficult than he had imagined. His old body could not escape his pursuer.

He ducked into the dojo moments before the man caught him. Soun tumbled to avoid the blow intended to knock him in the back of his head. He sprang back up across from his opponent, now facing off with him. Falling into his style of Anything-Goes, he felt oddly comfortable.

"I'm just going to bruise you a little, old man," the villain told him, stopped scantly six feet from him. "I just want to give your family more reason to answer my questions. Your son-in-law got the best of me before, but that was when I was injured. Now I'm whole and he's not."

Soun did not respond, saddened at this turn of events. He had taken up training with his daughter again after Ranma had vanished, if only to ease the pain of his disappearance. What was a simple means of alleviating their pain had become a new purpose. He had felt renewed by his training, even if he could never come to the level he had been at under his old master's thumb. Even then, he was nowhere near the level Ranma had been at his peak, and also below his daughter and the most impressive Ryouga.

However, he would go down fighting, even if it cost him his life. No longer would he be the fool who watched from the corner, tears in his eyes and fear in his face. Soun would prove his manhood, even in his old age.

The fight did not last long. The last rays of sunlight from outside the dojo shone on his face as he slumped back against the far wall of the arena. The sky was as nearly red from what he could see. He imagined his blood pooling on the floor, but it only poured from his nose and down the side of his face.

---

The entourage of the four teenagers neared the house moments before Soun's defeat. The talkative nature of their journey had ended after the train ride. It suited Rintaro just fine with Mayako hanging onto him, but Kenichi insisted on helping on the other side though he still walked the bike. He obviously intended to ignore the redhead that trailed behind them sullenly. Mayako seemed to notice it as well as she had cast a few long glances between her brother and Kimiko.

If the tiff they'd in the train led to anything, Rintaro hoped Kimiko would leave to wherever she had come from and leave him undisputed champ of Nerima, a title that had slipped into ambiguity once this usurper arrived. He turned his head and caught a glimpse of her walking about six feet behind them.

Something about her just seemed so familiar.

The redhead brushed past them suddenly and pushed the gate open for the three, having left the bike she walked against the wall. She waved them in and they obliged her, entering the Tendou grounds. As he walked past her, Rintaro felt goosebumps rise on his arms. He exchanged a look with the girl before continuing his way to the house.

"I think I'm going straight to sleep," Mayako announced to them.

As they approached the house, Rintaro stopped. Someone had left the front door ajar.

"What?" Kenichi asked. Rintaro saw the boy looking across his sister at him.

"The door's open," Rintaro informed them, glancing around the visible perimeter of the house. "Isn't that strange?"

Kenichi shrugged and pulled his sister up to the door, pushed it open and walked in. Rintaro stared after them for a moment, when Kimiko joined him.

"Are you staying?" she asked quietly. Her pretty blue eyes sparkled in the dying light of the sun.

"Of course," he said, looking after the twins, who had disappeared into the house. "Never mind, let's go in."

The two walked through the front door and into the house. He heard Kenichi and Mayako walking up the stairway. After discarding their shoes, they walked to the foot of the stairs.

"Hey, I'm going to go hang out in the dojo," Kimiko said to him as he approached the stairs.

In response, Rintaro shrugged.

She narrowed her eyes and rested her hands on her hips. "If anyone asks," —by which he was sure she meant Kenichi—"let 'em know, okay?"

"Whatever," he replied. "Just don't steal anything."

The black look she shot him made him feel good about himself. She stormed past the stairs and into the living room. He walked after the twins.

Rintaro jogged up the stairs and walked towards the end of the hall where Mayako's room was. He steeled himself to go there again, where his life had seemed to begin anew after waking up in her care. That moment made him realize he needed her. He intended to enter the room when he heard whispered voices from inside. The twins talked.

"That's no excuse for treating her like that," he heard Mayako say loudly. What she said next escaped his ears, but he could guess what they were talking about and stepped away from the door. He did not want to overhear anything about Kenichi and Kimiko's pseudo-relationship.

Rintaro slouched against the wall in the hall, when about a minute later Kenichi exited the room. He sternly nodded at Rintaro who took his place.

---

Pushing the door open to his room, Kenichi sighed deeply. He had had enough of today. He wanted to go to sleep, wake up and forget it existed. It had started badly in the morning, with his sister embarrassing him, and had drawn to a close with his sister getting beaten up and the girl he wanted more than anything dropping a stranger story on him than he could have imagined.

He flipped on the light and looked at the mural he had painted on the wall. He had drawn it when he was twelve and filled with that type of inspiration. Now he despised it. He had just seen a show with his friends and came up with this image. He had drawn the world people wanted, the pristine earth, in a myriad of earthy colors. The line through the center represented the cross between dreams and reality, separating the beautiful dream of the natural from the reality of the mechanical world, drawing it with metallic, shiny colors.

It made him angry that he could be that imaginative then, and not have a shred of that now. Everything had felt so clear when he'd drawn that. The dichotomy of it had seemed so simple. Cut the world into two. One was evil; one was good. He did not have to sift through grays to find that he was a baka and his perfect match was supposedly a boy.

He shook his head. He did not want to start moping. Although tempted to sleep through everything and sort it out in the morning, he doubted he would ever see Kimiko again in that case. A guilty part of him asked if that would be so bad. He knew hardly anything about her, and did not know if he could believe what little she had told him in their conversations.

She carried a lot of emotional baggage, he knew, from how she guarded any information about herself, especially regarding her love life. Now, he wondered if it came from whatever curse was afflicting her body, and affecting her soul.

He knew he had to talk with her at least once more, to get the whole story and make a decision then about whether to pursue her. He had no idea what he was getting himself into anymore. Before it made sense, charming her with his life here, convincing her little by little that she belonged.

She fitted into his life like a lost piece of the puzzle. She knew the Anything-Goes Style, somehow, through her mysterious brother. She liked his friends and even seemed to like him somewhere in her heart, even if she avoided getting too deep. And then there was that feeling of having met her before that made him wonder if fate had brought them together.

Maybe Kami-sama had plans, but Kenichi certainly could not figure them out. This piece of the puzzle had been left in the weather too long, and seemed to not stick in its slot tightly enough to stay.

Kenichi stood sharply, suddenly knowing his place. He had to continue on the path he had started and find out where it would end.

But before he could take a step towards the door, a noise from outside caught his attention. His room, his mother's old room, overlooked the dojo in the koi pond and the dojo in the back. He peered out. It would have been too dark to see anything, but the light in the dojo covered the area in light and shadows. He wondered if that was where Kimiko had gone. He certainly had not looked back before helping his sister to her room.

He watched for a moment when he saw Kimiko tumble out of the dojo doors as if thrown. He furrowed his brows and stared at her dumbly for a moment, not understanding the situation. She did not immediately get up as she might have if she were training. He wondered who she could be training with as the three she had arrived with were upstairs. The only other people would have been his mother or his grandfather, but both options seemed so unlikely.

As he put his hand to the handle of the window seal to open it, she started pushing herself to her feet. Kenichi watched in stunned horror as a tall man in a suit exited the dojo, walking towards Kimiko. His stomach turned in circles as he watched the spectacle.

Kimiko wobbled as she stood there, unable to defend herself. Kenichi's thoughts sharpened to a fine edge as adrenaline rushed through his body. He wasted not a single second more, only slowing a moment to open his door on the way out.

---

Kimiko made her way through the house to the back, where she found the sliding door to the backyard wide open. The room remained strangely dark. She approached it cautiously, moving quickly to the door.

She peered out, her eyes catching a flicker of movement from the dojo. The door to the dojo was closed, though she could tell the light remained on. The light on the inside was linked to the ones on the outside. She shrugged, leaving the house and walking into the backyard.

When she had made the decision to go to the dojo instead of upstairs in order to avoid feeling awkward around Kenichi, she had not considered that Akane might be training at her destination. Just being around her felt like walking across hot coals. The woman was no longer the Akane that had been engaged to Ranma. Seeing her reminded her of the years she had lost.

She took a deep breath as her bare feet stepped onto the wooden planks of the dojo. Standing at the door, she calmed herself, brushing her hands through her ponytail, which felt tight. She pulled out the tie and let her hair fall to her shoulders.

Seemingly moving of its own accord, her left hand jerked out, and slid the dojo's door open. What she saw confused her. Someone lay at the end of the mat, as if asleep. She took a few steps in, forgetting to close the door behind her.

Suddenly, she knew who it was.

"Tendou-san?" Her voice sounded strange, the height of its pitch, the tremor of fear. He did not look asleep. He looked dead. Everything shut down as she rushed to him, dropping to her knees early and sliding to a stop at his side. His face looked smashed, his nose broken and his puffy eyelids matched the dark blue of his bruised cheeks.

"Tendou-san?" she asked again, more loudly, her voice teetering on the edge of panic. She put one hand under his head and pressed the other to his neck. His pulse beat regularly, but he looked like hell. She breathed out a sigh, pulling her hands back gently, when she noticed the blood on the hand that had touched the back of his head. Her eyes opened wide.

"Head wounds bleed a lot, do they not?" a deep voice asked from behind her.

The fear vanished just as quickly as it had appeared the moment she saw a man who could have been her father-in-law, had circumstances not led her to this moment in time. Calm chi poured through her, the powerful white chi that always amazed her with its foreignness.

She took her time standing, drawing up in one motion, gliding to the position in which she would spin. With one step, she faced Soun's attacker. A tall, unfamiliar man stood at the exit of the dojo. He wore a brown trench coat and stood so very tall, he must have been a head taller than she had been when she could still return to her male form.

"I don't think we've met," the man said calmly, twirling a hat in his hand, which he placed over his short, black hair. "You must be one of the rug rats' friends." He smiled, walking slowly towards her.

"Why did you do this?" Kimiko asked calmly, subtly placing her right foot behind her left as she looked down towards Soun. He lay so still.

"No," the man said, stopping in the middle of that mat. "That's now how this works." He cracked his fingers, one at a time, his eyes glaring at her from the depths of the shadows gathered under the brim of his hat. "I ask the questions, and you answer. Otherwise, I might have to bruise your pretty little face."

The smallest tendril of anger rippled over the surface of her calm. He did not seem to like her reaction, as his words had not even remotely shaken her, and so he took another step.

"So, you think you can take me?" His voice asked darkly, though she could hear a vain mirth behind it. "You probably weigh half my weight and you have no more than a quarter of my skill. Nothing short of Ryouga arriving could save you now."

The name of her rival spoken from the lips of a total stranger startled her.

"And how is that?" Kimiko soundly asked, trying not to let anger cloud her mind. It took almost all of her willpower.

"I should give you a black eye for asking a question," the man told her, shaking his head. "But since that's why I'm here, I'll tell you. Ryouga is why I'm here. I don't care about anything but finding him."

Kimiko stared at him in disbelief. She could not connect how beating Soun would bring him any closer to Ryouga. "So why this?"

"He's merely a way of getting what I want," the man explained quickly. "This is the time you shut up and listen. I'm gonna ask you a few questions. You answer. It's that simple. If you don't answer or your answer doesn't satisfy me, I may add you to K.O. pile."

His threat did not scare her, but she wanted as much information as she could about his movements, his skills and his background before she took him on.

"Who are you?"

"Kimiko Nishiyama," she answered, no more than a second before he asked the second question.

"How do you know the Tendous?"

"Friend of the children," she answered, sizing him up. He looked like he could back up his words. He had stayed out of her awareness until he spoke. He could have been somewhere else, but she had a feeling, he had been hiding in plain sight.

"Who's your master?"

Kimiko narrowed her eyes. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

This drew a loud crack of the knuckles from the stranger. "That will cost you one bloody nose. Now, answer my question."

"No more questions," she replied, ready to test his skills. "I have one for you, though. Who are you?"

The man shook his head, removing his hat and tossing it aside. "You have guts, girl. I'm not sure if you're just stupid, but I'll play your game if you play mine. Tell me who your master is, and I'll tell you my name."

Suddenly, it dawned upon Kimiko that she knew this man. The combination of his cocky attitude, his face, his mannerisms and his stance all added up to a conclusion of familiarity. She knew him somehow. The memory of his name would not come to her, so she decided to play his game.

"Past or present?" she said back.

The man threw his arms up in the air. "What are you, fourteen? I don't care. Who do you consider your primary teacher? Who taught you your basics?"

Weighing her answer, she thought for a few seconds about how to answer it. "Those are two different people. I learned the basics from my father."

The man rolled his eyes. "That's not a good enough answer and will cost you a broken arm. Tell me all of your masters and I might consider not breaking one of your legs, too.

He took another step closer when she noticed something strange about the man's clothing. As his coat opened, she noticed something irregular. Although he wore a dress coat and pants underneath his trench coat, a dark spherical object was strapped to his hip. This also seemed strangely familiar. Her memories, unfortunately, no longer sparked as quickly as she would have liked.

"Well, it's the best you'll get from me," she replied. "My father taught me the basics. When I surpassed him, I found training among various masters. My current trainer is my step-brother."

"That cost you a leg and some broken ribs. I'm afraid, I don't have that much more I can break without killing you." The man spoke with such confidence, she knew she could play him. "I admire your spunk, though, and will give you one more chance to tell me something interesting."

"You're pathetic," she replied, holding back her adrenaline from wasting her precious energy.

The man stopped midstep and raised his brows in surprise. "I think I'll start with your face. You're entirely too cute to leave it as is. A few scars will do it some good."

Kimiko fell into the most basic stance as regularly as she could, evenly dividing her weight between her legs. Concentrating as hard as she could, she weaved her chi around her tightly to absorb the shock of his punches.

He darted forward, his opening move a sucker punch designed to be the beginning of her end. Although his move was remarkably quick, it felt like a minute passed before he reached her with a quick jab. The strike struck her squarely in the cheek. She felt a twinge of pain as the force knocked her over the unconscious Soun and into the wall. It would probably leave a bruise, but it did little damage.

"Just as I expected from a girl," the man said, almost sadly as he stood near her.

Kimiko kept her eyes closed, ready for his next move. Kimiko flexed her neck muscles as she felt one of his hands grasp it. Easily lifting her, he held her face up to his.

"You get cheeky with me, and I break you cheek bones," he told her with a tone he might have used in any other situation. He wound back his arm back and she prepared her chi again. This time, it smashed into the other cheek with so much power that it actually shook whole body, but she still managed to go forward with her plan, striking his arm several times after it struck her face.

She fell back into the wall, feigning to be pained by his attack. He threw another punch towards her face, but this one she dodged, feigning a fall straight to the floor. His fist struck the dojo's wall just before she hit the edge of the mat with her body. She lay still at his feet, holding her energy back. It was not time yet.

"Yes, you're eating your words now," he said smugly, picking her up by the back of her shoulders. She pushed off the dojo wall with a lot of force, pushing into his stomach as hard as she could. The move caught him off guard and he fell back, bringing her with him. They both collapsed onto the mat in a heap, she on top of him. She struck him numerous times, both in the air and on the ground.

She rolled off him slowly pushed herself to her hands and knees. She knew he had gotten to his feet quickly and reached her only a moment after she had reached her current position. Just as she expected, his foot appeared beneath her as he kicked towards her ribs. She subtly blocked each kick with the palm of her right hand, which she held close to her stomach as if guarding herself, each time striking his foot and leg.

On the last one she fell to her side and rolled over to her back. She looked up at him pitifully, the color of his punches decorating her cheeks.

"You absorb punishment well, girl," the man said, almost as if a compliment. "But by now, I bet your whole body hurts. I really wouldn't even have done much more than knock you around if not for your mouth."

She heard him crack his knuckles. "Hmm, it's a bit warm in here, yes? I think I'll finish the job outside."

With that, he lifted her with one hand on her left breast and the other under her stomach. He then threw her hard towards the dojo's entrance. She flew most of the way and then rolled with the throw and managed to generate enough energy to tumble her way out of the dojo entirely, finally resting on the ground just below the wooden porch of the dojo.

The ruse had worked better than she could have planned. All of her strikes went unnoticed. A couple more would give her a significant advantage against his size. He might have been as skilled as she was, but she wondered about his lack of awareness about her counterattacks.

She slowly got to her feet, but as she rose, her legs wobbled, drawing a chuckle from the man.

"Just stay down, girl. I don't need you standing to break your arm and your leg."

That was close enough for her. Without even lifting her head to look at his location, she took a couple lightning quick steps forward, leaping into him with all of her might. The blow knocked him straight back into the dojo. This time, he rolled to a stop, though, at the middle of the mat.

All while he tumbled, she had followed, so that when he halted in the middle of the mat under his own volition, she pounced the next second, jumping onto his back. The sudden blast of her weight landing on him knocked him back down.

She fiercely struck four pressure points on his back, making no attempt to be subtle about it this time, the moved down his legs and struck two more.

A moment later, he pushed himself up, leaping to his feet. She pressed off him towards the side of the dojo. He stood a bit shaky this time, his body shuddering slightly.

"What the—?" he asked, moving his limbs slowly. "Damn it, what the hell is this?"

"A trick my pops taught me," Kimiko informed him casually, cracking her knuckles. "Hurts, huh?"

He raised his head to look up at her, the strain in his face apparent. "So you're another Saotome. I should have known. You look just like the lot of them."

She stared at him coldly, letting the adrenaline course through her body freely, inviting the nervous energy it imparted. It felt good, readying all of her techniques to fully lay into this guy. She wanted to hear lots of cracking bones.

"It's going to take more than pressure point tricks to win this one," the man informed her stretching his arms back. "Though, I really admire your endurance. You obviously endured some Bakusai Tenketsu training, or am I wrong?"

Before she could reply smartly, Kenichi burst into the room and barreled into the man faster than Kimiko imagined he could move. The smacking sound of their bodies colliding made Kimiko grimace. They slid on the mat a second before Kenichi rolled off the man and rushed in with a brutal kick to the man's chest.

Kimiko's surprise increased when the man caught Kenichi's foot with ease, throwing the boy straight at her. Kimiko braced herself and caught Kenichi, only taking a few steps back to balance the two of them.

Kenichi's berserker state seemed to wane a bit as he looked back at Kimiko, his eyes still burning with rage. At that moment, he reminded her of Ryouga so much that she put her hand to her mouth. This time, however, the look was not for her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded and then motioned towards Soun with her head.

"Grandfather!" he cried out, making a move for the old man.

Kimiko caught him with one arm and pulled him back quick enough for him to avoid the stranger's amazingly quick sidekick. As she stumbled back, trying to balance both her and Kenichi's weight again, she marveled at his recovery from her pressure point technique. Anyone normal would have been unable to move much, if at all. She had used a lesser version against Kunou in their first match at Furinkan High School.

Without the disabling technique, Kenichi would probably already be knocked down on the floor, instead of stumbling back in her arms.

Both teenagers dodged back, putting space between them and their attacker.

"Why?" Kenichi demanded, his voice trembling. "What did my grandfather ever do to you?"

"He associated with a villain so despicable that he makes me look like a saint." The man seethed with anger now, glowering at them. His look rustled around in her memories, stirring more things she could not recall of a past she no longer could even consider relevant.

"What?" Kenichi asked, but the man did not answer with words.

He approached them quickly, though this time he attacked Kimiko, his leg shooting out at hers so swiftly, his foot brushed hers as she jumped back. It stung, though it missed. She knew he had to have been holding the strength of his blows back before she showed she could manage them.

He followed up with a lunging sidekick that she blocked with her hands, unable to dodge anymore as she was too close to both Kenichi and the wall of the dojo. When he pulled back his foot to repeat the kick, she felt the stinging added to her hands as well. Kenichi did not waste anymore time talking, punching at the man while he attacked the redhead, but he was deflected.

The block enabled Kimiko to counterattack. She used her Chestnut Fist against him, now that he was within range, raining dozens of blows against his arm and lower side. The rest of his body had been brought forward towards Kenichi to block.

Unable to shield himself from Kimiko's barrage, the man leaped back, drawing something from his coat pocket. Kimiko's eyes widened as he threw a shuriken at Kenichi. Kenichi had no chance to catch the first, which struck his arm, burying itself in his flesh as he used it to guard his face. The second he did catch, however, in a testament to his training under Akane.

The third one Kimiko caught as she moved to Kenichi's aid. She tossed it back at the man's leg, which stopped the fourth from leaving his hand. He leaped aside out of the shuriken's path.

Kimiko put her hand against Kenichi's chest, pushing him back. He understood the gesture and took the time to take care of the shuriken while she occupied the brute.

"I recognize your fighting style," Kimiko said, her energy waning more than she thought it should have. "It's a version of Anything-Goes, isn't it?"

The man grinned, quickly retrieving the third shuriken from the mat and then placing it back in his pocket. He watched Kenichi patch himself up, strangely allowing them time to recover.

"It's not a pure form, so I think you got it from a third party." She ran some of his movements through her head again. It definitely reminded her of her own style, however altered. "You've definitely met the founder."

This caught the man's attention. He looked at her with a new intensity that he had not shown before. "You've studied under him." The emphasis he placed on the pronoun startled her. It sounded like a paranoiac using the catchall "they" to refer to a conspiracy group.

"Huh?" she asked, truly confused. She wondered if he referred to Happosai, her now strangely beautiful step-brother.

"You trained under the devil," he said, licking his cracked lips. "You had to have to know of him. Yes, you did. I know it. You're too young to have trained with him before he disappeared."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Kenichi demanded, his eyes never leaving the man.

Kimiko shot him a look that meant for him to shut up, but the man gladly answered.

"I'm talking about the missing link of your treasured little school."

Kenichi would not understand that answer, Kimiko reasoned.

"He's talking about someone who's long dead," Kimiko said as evenly as she could. She could feel her calm energy draining from her body slowly, but certainly. The fight she'd had earlier today had left little of her usual energy reserves. She had fought so many fights recently that the exhaustion common to her early days after the coma felt as if it were returning.

"What?" the man asked, his voice higher than she had ever heard it. "Dead? That old bat? Impossible."

He did mean Happosai. She connected the dots, putting the mental mug shot of him together with his hatred of Happosai, the canteen on his hip and everything else about him. Twenty years had changed this man more than anyone else. He was so twisted by his curses that she no longer recognized him.

"You're talking about Master Happosai?" Kimiko said, amazed by the one part of the man that had not changed over the ears.

The time he had given them ended when she spoke last. He rushed at her with so much purpose that she realized a bit too late she would not be able to avoid his charge in time. Luckily, Kenichi had recovered, doing her the favor of pulling her back and jumping in her place.

The two men collided again, but this time Kenichi was thrown back. Kimiko moved in and struck the man's ribs with a dozen blows of her Chestnut Fist before he started to block her attacks. He countered with a subtle kick that Kimiko barely noticed in time. It struck her on the back of her knee, which she had rolled just in time to avoid it striking her squarely and breaking her kneecap. Instead it knocked her to a kneeling position.

Kenichi countered the charge finally, but the man swatted his attacks aside and still managed to kick Kimiko in the ribs. Unable to roll with it or block it, Kimiko absorbed the full of the blast without the protection of her chi. She released a quick shriek before the blow sapped her breath and the bone-crunching blast knocked her back three feet before she fell over backward.

Stunned, it took her a few moments to recover. The pain of the kick did less than her loss of chi. All the energy she had accumulated in preparation of the fight had evaporated. The exertion of so many fights in such a short period of time hurt her so much more than the kick, though several of her ribs felt broken. Luckily for her, Kenichi had been able to hold the man back from attacking her, though she had not been able to spare any energy to notice how he fared.

Ten seconds in a fight could easily mean victory or defeat, and as she rose to her feet, Kenichi looked to be near the latter. The man savagely attacked him. Her friend could do little but defend himself.

She knew she had to divert attention to herself, and quickly.

"I know your secret, old man!" she yelled as loudly as she could will herself.

Shoving Kenichi to the ground, the man she recognized to be a figure out of her past stopped and turned his attention to Kimiko for a brief second. He smiled and then lifted his leg to crush Kenichi. For his part, Kenichi looked okay, but the attack seemed to leave him dazed.

"I'm talking to you, Pantyhose!"

Taro's foot paused above Kenichi for a moment before falling beside his other one. His aura started to burn around him, rippling so quickly that it began to hurt her eyes. Anger literally coalesced down his body as the veins on his neck pulsated.

"You will die for that," Pantyhose Taro promised slowly, his body rigid with fury. "I'm going to tear you apart!" As if to make good with his words immediately, the older version of the same tall, feminine young man that had challenged Kimiko in her other life so well turned to glower at his new opponent.

As Taro turned, Kenichi rolled away, pulling himself together. Kimiko realized one other thing that could hurt her plans to win this fight. If Taro had grown in skill and size, she wondered how that might affect his monstrous form. She seriously started to doubt her ability to defeat him.

Taro left a trail of chi in his wake. The fiery red aura around him began to gather around his fists. Without her chi shield, Taro would easily do as he promised.

"You're still looking for Happosai, aren't you?" Kimiko speculated aloud, hoping to stall him.

Again, Taro's narrowed eyes opened wide, his anger flowing even more strongly upon her speaking of the name.

"You DO know him!" he shouted, his chi ripping around him violently. Even Kenichi should be able to see that aura.

"Yes, I know everything about him," she said, backing towards the door of the dojo.

Taro stared at her, his eyes transfixed. "Tell me where he is."

Kiyoshi could handle himself. Surely, he could fight this monster, she hoped. If Rintaro and the rest of the family's martial artists did not aid them soon, she might have to tell him what he wanted to know.

"Will you leave if I do?" Kimiko asked, feeling the breeze from outside. A few more steps and she could make a run for it. Taro would certainly follow her and ignore Kenichi. Soun could get the help he needed.

Taro matched each step she took, but did not approach. His anger did not wax nor wane, but by the greedy look on his face, she knew her lure had worked.

"You have to promise not to hurt this family ever again."

"Done," Taro agreed, grinning in such a way that she knew he did not care about anything else. "I won't hurt them."

"Then follow me!" she shouted, and then turned and fled.

"No, wait!" Kenichi yelled after her as she ran across the backyard.

"Get help for Soun, Kenichi-kun!" she shouted back before leaping the perimeter wall in one bound.

---

Mayako raced down the stairs, only taking care not to jostle her arm. She and Rintaro had been getting intimate in her room when they had heard some noise from out back. They tried to ignore it, but Rintaro got curious and opened the window in time to hear Kimiko's yell. Rintaro had wasted no time and jumped out the window. She watched him for a second in awe, before running through the house to follow.

She reached the living room where she tripped over Kimiko's bags. The door was closed, but as she opened it, she caught sight of Rintaro at the entrance of the dojo. He remained there for less than a second and took off into the shadows. Mayako ran to follow, but he leaped to the top of the perimeter wall, glanced back and then jumped into the darkness.

She turned toward the dojo, running to peek in. She saw Kenichi standing above the body of someone who looked seriously injured.

"Mayako," her brother said in a small voice. "Call the police. I have to go help Kimiko." He ran towards her and she barely had time to move out of the way before he left her there, standing at the entrance of the dojo.

---

Rintaro instinctively followed the trail of burning red energy. His eye for auras paid off today as this one was left in the wake of whatever villain had hurt his sensei. He would punish this criminal severely. When he found Kenichi wounded, his Sensei brutally injured and blood spatters on the mat of the dojo, he knew this is what he had to do. He had even recovered a couple of shurikens from the floor of the dojo.

It took him a few minutes of running through the streets of Nerima, but he knew he gained on his prey. He knew exactly where this man was going. They were on a path directly to Furinkan High School. Knowing this, he cut through an alley. He would get ahead of this scoundrel and ambush him at a place before the school where there would be no escape.

---

Instinct alone ran her body down the streets of Nerima. It never occurred to Kimiko to lead her assailant to a police station, or any place of authority that might aid her. If it had, she would have probably ignored it. The call of the martial artist to protect loved ones did not involve police, but only oneself and her desire to defend them on her terms. Taro wanted only her now. That was how she wanted it. With no one to protect, she could unleash everything that remained.

So when she found herself on a familiar path, she knew that the school's recreation grounds would be the only place she could recall where she could fight without notice. At this time of night during summer vacation, no one would be on the premises. The run was relatively short, but had a few obstacles. Water would be dangerous on her trip. If any water triggered Taro's cursed form, she might not have a chance to defeat the beast.

That meant anywhere near the river or the bridge on the way to Furinkan would be disastrous. She would have to quickly disarm him of the flask once they arrived at the school.

She also considered diplomacy. With her knowledge, she could avoid combat, but that would involve betraying her adopted brother. He would not be pleased to hear his identity revealed to an unstable and dangerous opponent. Certainly, Kiyoshi could defeat Taro, but the revealing of his identity would be disastrous for him. If anyone then did the math, they could figure out her identity as well.

This felt like playing shoji to her. She had to weigh each move carefully, or she would regret the smallest slip of her tongue for the rest of her life.

"Where are you going?" Taro demanded, betraying his distance from her. She had possibly gained a few yards since they'd left the dojo.

She did not respond, but continued running down the street adjacent to her old path to school. She did not want to risk falling into the water, so she kept a street away.

"Damn you, girl!" she heard a moment later. This time it sounded as if he were a bit closer, but without turning her head, she could not be sure.

If she went a street over, she would find herself near the place Akane used to like to skip stones into the river, just before the bridge. She made good time in arriving there.

Kimiko turned the corner to the right and ran straight for the bridge. Strangely, no traffic filled the road. On a weeknight, she would have expected someone to be driving home. Barely considering the road, she flew across the street and onto the bridge. Luckily for her, no boats crossed the bridge, so the crossing remained lowered. She had not considered that possible problem when choosing this path.

Picking up the pace, Kimiko hoped to make it across the bridge without incident. The walkway across the bridge was narrow and often filled at night with any combination of homeless and young couples. The many nooks of the bridge enabled people to hide both underneath and along the raised suspension. She had once climbed over the side of the bridge in a dare from her friends and found a nice place to sit while having pretended to fall.

She almost made it halfway across when the most unexpected thing happened. Her pursuer stopped. Slowing, Kimiko turned her head and looked behind her. Nearly twenty feet behind her, Taro engaged a new opponent, the echoing of their feet creating vibrations along the metal walkway.

The image of her genetic brother fighting Taro took her aback. His attack looked chaotic in the way Anything-Goes always did; as a high level black belt of the art, she could see the pattern and recognized the moves that her father had taught her so long ago. If not for his moves, she might not even have recognized him in the dim light. The two fought in between two sets of lamp posts, obviously an ambush point that Rintaro had chosen for this moment. How he had got ahead of them was anyone's guess.

Rintaro came close to achieving Chestnut Fist speeds with his barrage of punches and kicks. He still wore the clothes he had nicked from Kenichi, but they would need replacing now. She watched the torn sleeves and pants legs from her position and marveled at how much damage Taro caused in only his defensive blocks.

"What the hell is this?" Taro demanded as he did a move Kimiko just missed analyzing. He knocked Rintaro without hurting him much, but the blast seemed quite powerful and sent the boy tumbling. Kimiko lowered her center of gravity and pushed into his fall, softening his roll and catching him.

Kimiko lifted Rintaro to his feet as quickly as she could. He did not seem to notice the help as he quickly regained his balance. He rushed forward without even consulting her, but she quickly grabbed him by the shoulders.

Rintaro shot her a glance, but she ignored him.

"You've made enemies, Taro-san," she said carefully, not wishing to enrage him anymore. On the bridge, he had the advantage. They could not avoid his attacks here and he could no doubt absorb more damage than they.

"Well then, after I beat him, tell me where the old man is," the tall man said coolly.

"Who the hell is this, Nishiyama-san?" Rintaro asked, his voice sharp. He was mad. She could hear his heart beating, the violence in his voice. She could not blame him after what he did had done to Soun, but she had a few more things to worry about.

"Never mind that," she said quietly, but a bit too loud. Her body, still flooded with endorphins from the run, felt light, and her ears rang slightly. "We need to get moving."

"No!" Taro shot back. He took a few steps towards them. "This ends here! I will not allow you to escape again."

"We're not going anywhere, whoever the hell you are," Rintaro said in a near growl. "I am going to rip you apart."

The laughter of response Rintaro received sounded like the maniacal laughter of a villain from a silly movie.

"A boy after my own heart," Taro said, cracking his knuckles with such a pop that Kimiko could imagine someone across the bridge hearing the echo. He approached them in a slow walk, but their distance was so little now it made her nervous. She pulled her brother back, stepping away from their attacker.

"I think it's about time I got my answer, girl," the violent man said. "If you prolong this, you and your little friend are going to both lose limbs. I'm sure you don't want that. Now tell me!"

"What's he talking about?" Rintaro asked, his voice filled with something Kimiko did not want directed at her.

"She knows something about the man whom I am sworn to kill." Taro's statement even drew a bit of wonder out of Kimiko. He seemed to want not just a name change, but the death of Happosai. She supposed the twenty-odd years he spent hunting the old man had twisted him, but still felt weird hearing how far he had gone for his revenge.

"Who is this person?" Rintaro demanded. His bloodlust seemed temporarily abated, but she knew he must have seen Soun. She did not know if they were close, but Rintaro's hatred seemed to suggest it.

She did not have much time to consider her answer, but nothing short of a half-truth would do for this occasion. She could not risk letting something slip that would jeopardize her brother's identity with a real Saotome nearby.

"A very old man who stopped living a long time ago," Kimiko said mysteriously. "He's gone, Taro-san. You will find nothing but his remains any longer."

"Wrong answer, girl," Taro said ominously, close enough for her to make out the details of his appearance. He no longer supported the shirt and coat, having lost them somewhere on the road, but sported a modified version of his green scale vest that now encompassed his bulk. It left nothing to the imagination, as it conformed to his body. Luckily for her eyes, he still wore his pants, though they looked like someone had run the bottom of them through a shredder.

"I don't have any others for you," Kimiko said, hoping he could come to accept that Kiyoshi no longer was the same person that Taro searched for.

"What old man is this?" Rintaro demanded again, to her alone this time. "Tell me, Kimiko."

"This isn't the time," Kimiko replied, glaring at him. She wished she could have gotten to the school where it would be safer to fight. With Rintaro, they could win with enough room. Here, she could neither use a chi blast, nor the move she knew would render this easily-angered fool to a pulp.

"Yes, it is!" Rintaro yelled. His voice echoed throughout the metal bridge, but the horn of a boat obscured his voice from traveling too far. "My sensei is nearly dead and this man is to blame. He's here to find some guy and you just happened to know him? It's too easy. I don't know whether I should be fighting him or you, Nishiyama!"

In the middle of his words, she sensed something amiss. Neither Taro nor Rintaro had moved, however, so she ignored the feeling.

"It is, isn't it?" Taro said loudly, the anger in his voice transparent. "I came to the Tendou School looking for Ryouga, but instead I find someone who uses the master's moves and claims to know him."

"Shut up!" Kimiko yelled, interrupting Taro. She moved to charge past Rintaro and attack, her secret almost exposed, but Rintaro's hands stopped her. He grabbed her by the right shoulder and left hip. He held her with a surprising amount of leverage.

"No, I want to hear what he has to say." Rintaro's words stunned her. He had turned against her again. This time, he would expose her identity.

Taro stood closer now, his eyes shining in the darkness.

"Rintaro Saotome, no?" the viper of a man asked of the boy who held Kimiko. Rintaro did not immediately respond, but Taro seemed to not need a verbal answer. "I'll take your silence for yes."

"So you and Nishiyama know each other?" Rintaro offered.

Kimiko opened her mouth, but felt the hand on her shoulder reach and cover her mouth. She'd had about enough of him when she felt his left hand strike a pressure point on her side that sent her sprawling to the floor. She knew the technique as it had been used on her by Dr. Tofu before a while back. Her legs felt like jelly and would feel like that for the next twenty minutes.

She did not fall, as Rintaro grabbed her by the shoulders and gently set her on her knees.

"What the hell, Rintaro?" she demanded, twisting her torso to hit his thigh with as much force as she could muster. He took a step back after that.

"Be quiet for now," he whispered to her.

She silently fumed at his words. Not only did he completely take her out of the fight, but he now it seemed as though he might blow her identity, and possibly even her brother's, if they compared their notes enough.

"You were saying?" Rintaro asked of the villain.

"You can say that we are somewhat of rivals, he and I," Taro said. He looked down at Kimiko with such violence in his expressions. "A long time I have hunted for the master. Our ways have crossed many times before."

"You say 'he' referring to whom?" Rintaro asked, the wonder in his voice overtaking his anger.

Her heart beat so loudly in her chest that Kimiko was sure that they both could hear it pounding away madly as if accompanied by a symphony, her heart striking the beat in a rhythmic manner.

"You're an idiot for listening to him, Rintaro," she began, glaring at the boy. "He's nothing but a bitter asshole who wants nothing but revenge and will beat or kill anyone in his way."

"But I want to understand his reasons," Rintaro replied. His words would have scalded her if they were moistened. "You, on the other hand, seem to be the cuckoo in my nest. I knew you were bad news since I first laid eyes on you, bringing all the pain with you, stirring up bees from their hive."

Taro laughed again.

"What are you laughing at?" Rintaro demanded, his eyes once again boring into the villain.

"You, dear Saotome," Taro replied. "You disabled the only chance you have of beating me."

"What?" Rintaro asked, his voice pitched. "Tell me who you are talking about. There have been too many lies around here."

Taro laughed, his eyes wild. "Master Happosai, the Grand Master of the Anything-Goes Style. Somehow this whelp of a girl got one of the greatest martial artists of this era to train her. He always was fond of pretty young things, so I guess it makes sense."

"Shut up, Pantyhose-guy!" she yelled at the man in the green vest. "Happosai is twice the man you will ever be. He should have drowned you at Jusenkyo instead, and made the Pool of the Drowned Emo."

She felt Rintaro's questioning stare, even as Taro's malevolent aura began to grow.

"Who are you really?" Rintaro asked of her, but she couldn't hear him properly with her anger building.

"Shut up, you disgrace to the Saotome name," Kimiko said, the only thing she would answer to him. Twice now he had gone out of his way to wrong her. Not coming to our help when Jotaro attacked us, I can forgive. But disabling me in front of one of the most dangerous monsters to ever walk these streets? Unforgivable.

"He poses a good question, Nishiyama-san," Taro asked. "You know far too much to be some random stranger that the master trained. Who the hell are you?!"

Did I overplay my hand? she thought as she focused on her legs. Dr. Tofu had never taught her the counter-pressure point to reverse the temporary paralysis, but apparently had taught the imbalanced Rintaro the move.

"No," Taro said a moment later after not getting a response, his hand going to cup his jaw. "You can't be." Both teens looked over to the man, who laughed at them again. "It makes sense, if you ignore the fact that twenty years have passed."

"What?" Rintaro asked, his curiosity overwhelming whatever bit of sense he should have had. Kimiko eyed her brother with contempt.

"Saotome-san, I'd like to introduce you to a member of your very own family..."

---

More to come soon! Look forward to it.